Doesn’t matter if either idea is unfair. Briggs brought this on himself. People get sick of the greed. That’s the fallout when you demand a new contract while already having a contract, especially after the way Briggs whined and cried and pouted and bleated and yelped for a new deal three years ago. He wanted more money. He demanded a trade. He said he’d never play for the Bears again. Never. Ever.

And he would hold his breath until he turned blue.

Briggs eventually got his money. He got market value and said so at the time. He pocketed all the up-front money after he signed the deal.

That’s the key right there: He signed the deal.

He must’ve like the terms because he signed it. If he didn’t like the idea that he might be underpaid later, then he shouldn’t have have signed it. He should’ve just run away from home like he threatened.

But he signed it. He gave his word. And now his word is no good, or it’s good only until A.J. Hawk gives his word to the Packers.

So Briggs wants more money and he wants it now or he wants to be traded. That was the first report Saturday night. Now Briggs is backpedaling: No trade, not now anyway, maybe later, gimme money, I’m doing this for Matt Forte and Chris Harris, for all my teammates, for all mankind to bring peace on Earth and solve world hunger. Or something like that. Whatever, the point is, Briggs wants more money when he’s obligated to live up to his end of the deal.

This would be a solid stance for a team to shut a player up. But the Bears do stupid things at times, and Brian Urlacher was one of them. The Bears gave Urlacher more money when he still had paper left a while back. That set up everyone to act like Briggs, or Forte.

So, the Bears deserve some of the blame for this aggravation. Briggs deserves most of it. The fans deserve none of it, and it’s the fans who have to listen to Briggs prepare for life with a tin cup and squeegee.

So, Briggs ought to expect some fans to think he’s milking an injury, and if the injury is legit, then people might wonder aloud why a team would continue to throw money at an aging and apparently brittle linebacker.

Briggs can expect some fans to think he missed a tackle because he’s pouting over his, what, $15 million or so remaining on the deal he put his name on, and if he blows a play because he just blew a play, then people might wonder aloud why the Bears would throw more money at a guy on the wrong side of 30 whose career might be headed the wrong way.

I said it might not be totally fair to Briggs, but he set himself up for this, and besides, just because it might not be totally fair doesn’t mean it’s not totally true.